Eyes On Fire
by Maylayn
Summary: Harry once had a very special friend, someone who kept him safe and warm at night when the Dursley’s refused him food and comfort.Now,years after he lost her,he’s gaining back what was rightfully his,as well as a few surprises along the way.HPCD SLASH
1. This Is New

**Title: **Eyes On Fire

**Fandom**: Harry Potter

**Pairing:** Harry/Cedric

**Timeline:** AU, Seventh year

**Rating:** M

**Summary:** Harry once had a very special friend, someone who kept him safe and warm at night when the Dursley's refused him food and comfort. Now, years after he lost her, he's gaining back what was always rightfully his, as well as a few surprises along the way. HPCD SLASH

**Warnings:** This fic contains **SLASH**. Please refrain from pointing this out to the author as she will most likely point and laugh at your foolish blindness in not reading this. It is also set in an **AU** setting, so, therefore, we can safely assume a great deal of things will differ from canon. So, if you see Draco Malfoy and Severus Snape at Hogwarts, I beg of you, do not tell the author! **CANON** characters will be featured in various **OOC**ness, which is planned, and several **OC**s will appear, some main characters, others minor. Oh, and there are **VAMPIRES** here, so, there will be **BITING** and blood drinking. Obviously.

**Disclaimer:** I do not claim to own Harry Potter and affiliated characters. All originals belong to me unless so stated.

**A/N:** Hey, hey! So, I know I havent' updated anything for ages and ages. I don't have an awfully large amount of time anymore and I'm finding it hard to keep hold of my muses for **Shadow's Secret** (not that this means I'm giving up because I definetly haven't). Real life sucks, by the way, in case any of you still had some illusions to the contrary. But, I've finally decided to post this, since I've been putting it off ever since Twilight suddenly became hugely popular. (I have booked tickets for it, too!)

Just so we are clear: this fic was originally started in 2005, and was recently re-edited. No vampires will glitter, or sparkle, nor will they eat animal blood. This is in no way influenced by Twilight.

With many great thanks to **Disco-Dancing on the roof** who is the best person ever! Chapter credited to you, love!

**Chapter One— This Is New (also know as So You Thought You Were Normal)**

The Moon stretched its silvery rays across the sleeping town of Little Whingeing, alighting on every dark shadow until it final crept over number four, Privet Drive. It shined within the window of the second bedroom on the second floor, moving almost lovingly over the figure wrapped up in a thin sheet, twisting and turning with pain and fear.

Sensing the young man's almost desperate mental plea for help, the silvery beams wrapped around him as if they were the arms of a loving mother, soothing a poor, frightened child in the midst of a terrible nightmare. And indeed, the Moon saw herself as this teen's mother, for he had none left in this life. Reaching deep within his soul, she searched for the link she held with him and slowly unravelled the powerful block placed upon it, opening him up so that power flowed through his veins, causing his magical core to pulse with the energy.

She lifted a silver hand and stroked it over his hair, his pained whimpers slowly quieting, even as his hair ruffled in an unseen breeze. She smiled down at him, settling herself in to keep him safe from what plagued his young mind, even as she reached out and called into the night.

She would watch over him, tonight and far into the realm of day, as she must.

HPCDHPCDHPCDHPCDHPCDHPCDHPCDHPCDHPCDHPCDHPCDHPCD

Harry blinked his eyes open, his mind lethargic. He felt as if he'd actually gotten several hours of uninterrupted sleep. A pleased feeling filled him as she stretched languidly on his barely there mattress, not caring for the first time in a long time about his living standards. He yawned, turning and looking out the window. He froze, seeing the sun high in the sky and he swore under his breath. His aunt was likely to kill him when he stepped outside his room; he was supposed to of cooked breakfast for his uncle and precious Duddikims.

"You do not need worry about them, dear Harry."

Shooting up, Harry's hand moved to grab his wand from inside the pillow case and his ears laid back flat against his head.

Wait.

Ears?

His eyes widened and he lifted a shaking hand to his head, feeling his wild hair and almost sighing in relief until he felt a light tug and his fingers came into contact with velvety soft fur. He slowly moved his fingers, feeling out more and more of the soft fur until it ended in a softly curved tip.

"Oh, fuck."

A soft, melodious laugh filled the air. "Language, Harry."

He turned and looked at what seemed to be a hazy figure. He reached blindly for his glasses, slipping them on and blinking in surprise as everything was suddenly thrown out of focus. He pulled them off and the world became sharply defined. Except for the figure. "Who are you?"

The figure moved, stepping out of the sun's rays and into the shadows and she was suddenly there, a stranger he'd used to dream of when he was a naïve child. "I thought you'd remember me, Harry."

"I…"

She smiled down at him, her pitch black eyes dark against the shimmery tone on her pale skin. Long, wispy silver hair hung down around her face, sliding over her shoulders and the flimsy looking grey dress she wore. She sat down on the edge of his bed, a pale hand rising to brush his hair away from his wide eyes.

"I knew you'd remember me, little one." She peered into his wide eyes, seeing the wariness shifting in the emerald depths. "I should never have left you alone here, nor even in your Wizarding school, but I am willing to see the error of my ways and I shall move to correct the mistakes made since."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Forgive me for sounding probably a little daft, but, I don't _know_ who you are and how the hell did you get through the wards and past the Dursley's without me hearing it?"

She smiled again. "I came in a…slightly different way than is normal, and your—kind relatives are sleeping quite peacefully, I might add."

"Different way? What way? If there's a way in through the wards Voldemort," and here Harry noticed she didn't so much as blink at the name, "might be able to get through!"

"Hush, little one," she smoothed a wild tuft of hair down. "The way I move is far different from the norm for wizards such as this most recent Dark Lord." She sighed, lifting a slim hand and brushing it through her silver hair. "He cannot get near you while I am here, for I have a power he has been unable to obtain despite his less than stellar efforts to do so."

"_Power the Dark Lord knows not,_" Harry said softly, pain and sadness making his head bow until his chin touched his chest.

The woman shifted closer, wrapping her arm around him and pulling him against her side. "You dream such awful things, little one, but I only saw what was there this past night and I should have seen everything for all this time, no matter that I retreated from you." Her voice held a great sorrow that made the lilting accent strengthen slightly. "Something has hid you from me for so long, child, and only now can I see you clearly once more."

"What do you mean?"

"I have always watched those who belong to the Night, and to me. But, something powerful enough to hide what you are, hid you from my sight as well and for _years_ I have searched blindly all over the world, hoping to somehow chance across you once more." She raised a hand and stroked her fingers lightly over the large ears on his head; they twitched in response. "I do not know what this was, but I fear it's influence over you and I will not allow it to take hold once more. I shall stay with you until a guard can be procured—one which I have access to and who shall watch over you when I cannot."

"I don't need to be coddled," Harry hissed, sitting up and shrugging out of her arms. He slipped off his bed and stood, slightly shaky on his own legs. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go see what the fuck is on my head."

"They are ears, I thought that much was fairly obvious when you touched them."

"Oh, the ear part was easy, but I seem to have two lots now!"

The woman watched him silently, before she rose smoothly. Harry envied her gracefulness. "Very well, once you have I shall explain that which was denied to you at such a young age."

She followed him down the hall, her dark eyes casting a hateful glare at the locks on the outside of his door. He ignored her, not wanting to even acknowledge the comfortable way he felt around her, like he had found something lost. He remembered the dreams he'd had when he was little, dreams that had stopped when he turned nine, ripped away from him and leaving him with no comfort in a dreary surrounding. He'd always seen the silver-haired lady as a sort of protector, a guardian for when he let his defences down.

And now she stood behind him as he squeezed his eyes shut, not quite wanting to see what was _really_ on his head.

"It is quite alright, little one, to be afraid. I only wish I could have allowed this when you were younger, to allow you time to become used to it all."

"The Dursley's would have killed me," he said softly.

"And that is the reason I could not, because you were placed with such—unpleasant people."

He snorted. "Sounds strange when you say it, almost like you want to say something else but you're trying to match your voice and speech with your words."

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Open your eyes, child, and see what was always rightfully your's to have."

With a deep breath, Harry flickered his eyes open. His emerald eyes widened at the sight of the large, oversized ears nestled within his messy hair. They twitched, sitting up a little more as he watched them curiously. He could feel the tug of muscles that had never been there before as one of them swivelled slightly to the side and a soft snore reached him.

"Whoa."

She smiled behind him. "I believe that the Potter family has always held this inheritance within their blood, though they were quite accomplished at powerful glamour's to hide them from sight."

He glanced at her in the mirror. "You knew my father? His father?"

"No," she shook her head and the pitch black eyes gazed at him sadly. "I felt no need to link them to me anymore than necessary. You were a special case."

"How wonderful."

She laughed softly, reaching out to touch his ears with slim fingers. The ear flicked away as he frowned. "They will react to both your thoughts and your emotions—they are a simple way to read your thoughts in as uncomplicated way as should be possible. You will find yourself controlling your emotions and reactions a lot more than is natural for a wizard of your calibre."

"What's that supposed to mean? My 'calibre'?"

"You are an exceptionally powerful wizard, little one, and it is the culmination of all that power that finally allowed me to find you, right where I had left you. Or, almost," she smiled down at him.

"Powerful," he mumbled, eyes fixed on the way his ears were flopping forward a little. "I've never felt powerful before."

"And you would not have. This is a part of who you are, child, and locking it away caused a part of yourself to be hidden from you, like a caged animal separated from its mate. You were shaped and that piece was left to be nothing more than a rarely glimpsed facet of your personality."

"Slytherin," he whispered, eyes widening in realisation. "I really should have been in Slytherin, shouldn't I?"

"I do not know and we shall never truly find out. You have been forced to adapt yourself to a given situation, and have changed from how you origionally were."

"Voldemort. I really am the only one who can fight him, you know."

"No, child, you are not the only one with the power to fight against him, but you are the only one with the determination and courage to face him on a battlefield."

Harry sighed, running a hand through his hair, absentmindedly scratching at the base of his ears. "So, what am I? And who are you really?"

She smiled, motioning him to follow her. She led him down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she waved a hand at the table and a plate full of pancakes drizzled in syrup appeared. Harry's stomach grumbled and he blushed, seating himself and picking up the fork. He looked at her pointedly before he began to eat.

"My name is Leune, but perhaps that name has been lost through the ages, since I doubt any wizard or witch would recognise me as separate to the Lord of Night. Perhaps, the Lady of the Moon?"

Harry frowned. "I think Hermione may have mentioned that once."

Leune nodded, smiling down at him. "Your friend is quite an extraordinary witch."

"I thought you said you could never find me?"

"I could sense you, as a vague whisper of light and mingled shadows. I knew who was around you and who you were close to, though it was never enough." She shook her head, silver strands flashing in the sunlight from where she stood in the shadow cast by the fridge. "I am, as I have stated, the Lady of the Moon, the physical aspect of the Moon's spirit."

"You're the moon?"

"A part of it, but the part which has a name none the less."

"The moon?"

She laughed softly, "yes, little one, the Moon."

Harry nodded, chewing thoughtfully on a piece of pancake. "Makes sense. I thought you were like a ray of moonlight, something I never really saw back then." He shook his head, sighing. "So what am I?"

"You are a Shadow Fox."

**A/N:** Yes, the chapter is incredibly, depressingly short. _cries_ Next chapter is, however, longer. If enough people like this (or if I get desperate to post) I'll put the next one up!


	2. Never Quite So Simple

**A/N:** Gah, this took forever to get out and for that reason the real note is down the bottom. Enjoy lovelies!

**Chapter Two— Never Quite So Simple (also known as Life And Hopes Don't Mix Well)**

"I'm a what?"

Leune looked sadly down at him. "It is painful, to see that you have no sense as to how closely your family has always been linked to me. Even your father, though he manifested no part of his heritage, knew of what he could have been, what you would be."

"That doesn't tell me anything," Harry snapped, pushing the plate away from him. "I'm fucked up already, I don't need some stupid thing to make me even more abnormal!"

She frowned. "But this is perfectly normal for you, little one."

"No it is fucking not! Normal would be me slaving out in the hot sun for Petunia's stupid fucking garden! Normal would be cringing when Vernon raises his hands and fucking makes me repeat a fucking vow I wish I could fucking forget! Normal would be dying!"

The emerald eyes widened and a sun darkened hand slapped over his mouth as more words tumbled out, turning nonsensical and becoming little more than mumblings.

Leune turned, looking out the window where it overlooked the multi-coloured flowers in the garden. "What is this vow, child, which you are forced to repeat?"

"Mrphflump."

"I cannot hear, nor understand if you do not remove your hand."

Harry glared at her as his hand dropped. "You really wanna fucking know?"

"I would not ask if I did not."

"Fine," he spat out, eyes hardening and glittering dangerously. "I swear, upon the life I was unduly given, to do the desires of those who unwillingly care for me. I swear, to never raise a hand in magic against them, to only do so in order to defend them from my own kind. I swear, to bow beneath their wants and to allow them freedom with my soul and my physical body, to do as they will."

Leune closed her eyes, unable to hide the pain that glimmered in their dark depths. "What have they made you do, Harry?"

He shifted and she opened her eyes. His large black ears were pressed flat against his head, his hands curled into fists by his sides. But his eyes seemed to glow, catching her attention and holding it. This was not a part of his inheritance, this was something completely Harry.

"Things I don't wish to speak of to you. You made me tell you—I don't know how, but you did—and you owe me an explanation. Give it to me," he hissed, emerald eyes narrowing.

She inclined her head, holding a hand out to him. "I cannot easily explain. But I can show you enough, little one."

Harry eyed her warily, his body humming with anger and humiliation. With a heavy sigh, he stood and placed his hand in hers, noticing that it was cold to the touch. Leune smiled sadly at him, before the world reduced to a swirl of colours, vanishing beneath a black canvas, dotted with twinkling, diamond-like stars.

"Where are we?"

"Above everything," Leune said, sweeping her arm out in a fluid gesture.

Harry looked down, eyes widening. He could see a million different lights, yellowish in comparison to the beautiful white of the stars. "But it's day."

"And yet, on the other side of the world, they are sleeping."

"We're on the other side of the world?"

"No," she shook her head. "This is merely a transition, a chance for you to gain some footing before we fall into the memories of the beginning of your history."

Harry stiffened. "Right. Get on with it, if you don't mind?"

Leune smiled softly. "As you wish, child."

The world blurred again before it wrenched to a stop and now they were standing in a dense forest, the sun filtering through in greens and golds. Before them, was a young man with long, wavy raven hair, spinning and kicking out at a tree beside him. Tears ran angrily down his cheeks and he gasped, falling to the ground and hiding his face behind his hands. His shoulders shook and Harry took a step forward, only to feel a cool hand on his arm.

"This is the past, little one, there is nothing we can do. But watch, for this is important."

Harry frowned at Leune, turning his attention back to the dark haired man. Slowly, he took in everything about him, from the way his long hair was pulled back with a thin leather thong, to the way his pants tied all the way up the leg and the way his shirt hung off his shaking frame. And then he saw them, the inky ears that flopped forward, blending in with the locks of hair that had escaped their confines.

"Ears. Just like me."

"The first, of the Potter's to bear them."

The man screamed, jerking upwards and spinning around, a deadly green glow encasing his right hand. "Leave me alone!"

A figure, hidden until now by a thick tree trunk, stepped forward and Harry blinked in surprise.

"That's you."

"Yes," she said softly, watching her past self with tired eyes. "I had no choice in accepting this man."

Past-Leune glided forward, her face holding nothing more than a lilting laughter that shined in her night black eyes, lighting the deep depths. "How can I leave you alone, Eduard, when you cry out for me?"

"I do not," Eduard hissed angrily. "I did not ask for this!"

"And yet, here I stand, before a meaningless mortal man who attempted immortality," she flicked her fingers and the world around them fell into night. "You asked for it quite clearly."

"No," the man shook his head, the glow about his hand vanishing. "No, you don't understand. I told him—_I told him_!"

"Told him what?"

"Not to do it! Not to combine the potion and the spell. No case, not since it was invented, no case has succeeded. And he was such a coward! He made me do it!"

Past-Leune blinked, stepping forward. "What do you mean?"

"He tied me down, forced it past my lips, cast the spell and now—look at me!" He lifted his hands and tugged at the large black ears. "What am I?!"

Leune touched Harry's arm and he lifted his eyes to hers. "It took some time for me to understand what he was saying. I was not experienced in the way human minds worked, since I had never met a human on an interactive level before." Her dark eyes flickered over to her past self. "I was quite arrogant at this point in my life, assured that the human race would fall like it had done several times before. It was a repetition, and I felt no remorse for having a hand in it."

"But why? What am I? This doesn't give me any answers at all!"

"Look," she said quietly.

Harry turned back, eyes widening as he saw Eduard on his hands and knees whimpering in pain and begging the elegantly clad woman in front of him for some form of release.

Past-Leune looked down upon him, a mixture of curiosity and pity in her eyes—but no guilt, no caring emotion, nothing like she was now.

"This would not be so painful if you would accept the fact you brought this upon you. A monthly transformation is what you shall look forward to now, mortal."

"I did not ask fo-argh!" Eduard curled up, his hands covering his face from view.

Harry watched in horrified silence as the man before him seemed to blur and shift. There was no cracking of bones, nor the ripping of clothes—they seemed to meld into him—and slowly, as if he was watching one of Dudley's horror movies, the man melted until he grew smaller and smaller. When it was over, Harry was staring down at a red fox with black ears and socks over its little paws.

Past-Leune was blinking in shock. "This was not what I had expected at all."

The little fox bared its teeth and snarled, the dark eyes lighting up with a golden fire.

Leune touched Harry's arm. "Come, there is nothing more to see here. Unless you wish to see your ancestor subjected to various tests."

The world blurred and Harry found himself back in the kitchen, standing beside Leune. He frowned, slipping onto the chair he'd vacated what felt like hours ago. He looked up at the silver haired woman with tired eyes. "What am I?"

"A Shadow Fox, one of seven creatures of the elements. You belong to the Night, but mostly to myself. The blood of the Fox has run in your family's veins since Eduard and his unfortunate accident."

Harry closed his eyes. "I'm an animal."

"Not quite," Leune said softly. "You have a few characteristics of an animal, but you certainly are not one, child."

Taking a deep breath, Harry raised a hand and gingerly touched his ears. They were twitching, flicking this way and that as his distress bled through. "What's going to happen?"

"You are accepting this?"

"No. But what can I do, when these," he tugged at an ear and winced at the sharp spike of pain. "Are attached?"

Leune smiled at him sadly. "You are far too mature for your age, little one, it stands as a testament to the life you should not have been forced to live."

Harry shrugged that off, not feeling in the mood for reflections. "I can't go to Hogwarts like this. There'll be an uproar and the Prophet will make out I'm evil or some stupid crap."

Leune frowned. "There is a glamour which we can place upon it. You'll have to renew it each morning, but it should help in the very least. But I do not trust those you attend your school with, little one, the pain that always radiated from there…it was always yours, now I know."

Harry frowned at her. "They're my friends," he snapped.

"Not all of them," she said sadly. "Some of them, even those you were always with, do not see you beyond your name. I could not explain it, but I felt it as keenly as if I was there myself." She fixed him with her fathomless eyes, her expression showing the longing she seemed to feel. "You were not the only child I was barred from communication with, though I could sense more than is normal because of their presence around you."

"Who?" He was curious despite himself, wondering if, perhaps, someone else was just like him.

Leune gave him a smile one might show to a child who was asking questions they knew they shouldn't. "Secrets are what keep us safe, Harry, and though I realise that you most likely have been forced to carry very little of those, I cannot tell you without showing the hand of others."

Harry blinked and then looked at her with his head tipped on the side, _really _looking at her. "If you were mortal, you'd be in Slytherin," he said simply.

She laughed, the light musical sound bringing a small smile to his own lips. "Oh, Harry, child, that isn't so bad a thing!"

He raised an eyebrow, making her smile fondly. "You know, for someone who hung around me so much as a kid and knows my basic thoughts, you'd think you could realise I don't think that. So the House had some particularly well known bad apples," he shrugged uncaringly. "So what? Slytherin is widely known as a Dark House, accepted as such because their Founder was Dark too. That doesn't mean they all are. After all, isn't Gryffindor supposed to be the House of the brave and loyal? We got Pettigrew, after all," he muttered unhappily, scowling slightly at the thought of the rodent-like man.

Leune sighed. She studied him for a moment, watching as one of his ears flicked to the side, picking up on some noise that she, even with the heightened senses she owned, could not hear, while the other remained flopped forward in a clear sign of unhappiness and dejection. "I will need to leave you for a short time, to make arrangements for your new guard."

Harry's head snapped up, eyes narrowing and she could clearly see him running through several things, memories or conclusions, she couldn't tell. His ears moved as well, laying flat and she wondered if he was aware of the slight growl he was giving off. She could clearly see the anger and displeasure he was fighting to control, fighting to tie down and lock away with a skill borne of long years of practice. She knew where it began, and where it had continued.

"_A guard_?!" His voice rose, the growl carrying into it and giving it a strange quality. "I have more than enough people prying into my life and watching every moment of weakness, thank you very much," he snapped, emerald eyes flashing. "I don't think I need yet another one to boss me around."

Leune shook her head, slightly amused at his small outburst. "Not a guard in the sense of those who continuously and rather annoyingly prowl around outside the perimeter of this dwelling in some farce of defence."

Harry blinked. "You know about them? Oh!" His eyes widened and his ears rose. "Can they see us? Do they know you're here? Oh god, if they know about this they'll tell Dumbledore and--."

She blanked out his stream of terrified questions, preferring to run over a list of possible guards, ruling out rather quickly any werewolves; they would instinctively attempt to Dominate Harry, since a Fox was naturally smaller and much more Submissive than a wolf. She sighed softly, drawing the attention of the raven-haired wizard, who narrowed his eyes and finally stopped the frantic drone of questions.

"What?"

"I was merely questioning whether or not I actually know of a person who might…" she trailed off, frowning as she finally found on that might suffice. She nodded to herself, satisfied with the choice. Giving Harry a fond look, she softly spoke. "I am going to leave you for a short time, and I shall return with your new guard. I assure you that this one will not be so inane and clumsy as those others. However, I will have to allow your relatives to wake up, since their continued sleeping will no doubt rouse suspicions in a short while. I recommend you go about as if you had been awake at the time in which they usually require you up." She waved her hand and he caught a glimpse of shimmers in the air. "Those chores which could be done physically by now have been completed, so they will hardly have a reason to punish you in anyway."

"Like they need one," Harry muttered darkly.

"Be that as it may, they will face harsh repercussions if they choose such a path." Leune smiled, nodding to him. She stepped forward and pulled him into a hug, her body cold in a way that was oddly soothing as it brought up long forgotten memories of nights spent as a child curled in the lap of the very same woman. "Be careful, little one, and try not to get yourself into any trouble during my absence." She passed a hand over his head, brushing against his ears. "I have placed a temporary glamour over you. It should hold until I am able to return."

Harry nodded, feeling his ears flick to the side as he picked up on yet another noise. "How long?"

Leune shrugged one shoulder in an elegant gesture. "I have no little idea of how long it shall take me. Everything shall fall into place, little one, you will see."

Harry opened his mouth to speak, to say something against her belief, but she had stepped into the light and begun to fade away. He had a bad feeling. His stomach fluttered, and it had only ever done that when something bad was about to happen. He swallowed nervously and turned to look out the window, his eyes scanning the yard. Had the Order guards seen Leune?

**A/N:** Gah, I am so sorry the update has been so long in coming. As I stated in my profile update, I'm having a huge amount of trouble writing fanfiction at the moment. Currently, all I can write is my own original fiction. I plan to get published some day, and I'm working on a few fics as we speak, or, as I type and you read! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it explained a few things. You'll learn a bit more about Harry's situation and Shadow Fox's in the next few chapters. Plus, next chapter I get to introduce my vamp!


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